“It’s very sad.”

\         That was the response of my niece, Rachel.

She was the first person I reached out to this morning after learning that the Supreme Court had overruled Roe v. Wade.

I first discussed abortion with her when she was a student at Boston University.

Now she’s the mother of two girls.

America will be different for them, even if they remain in California.

Women there, as in Maryland, will still be able to decide when or if they want to have children,

Both states have passed laws adopting the principle of Roe: the state does not restrict a woman’s choice until her fetus is viable – capable of sustained survival outside the womb.

Anticipating today’s bad decision, this year’s General Assembly passed legislation broadening access to reproductive health care for women of lesser means.

There’s still work to be done.

The Texas anti-abortion law authorizes lawsuits against anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion.

One of the issues my colleagues and I are already working on for next session is how to prevent people from suing a Maryland resident under this law.  .

When Roe was decided in 1973, I learned about it on the CBS Evening News in my grandmother’s hotel room.  She was in New York for the night, and I was a law student.

Rachel had not been born then, but she worked the polls in 1992 when our legislation adopting Roe was approved by the voters, 62%-38%.

I think Grandma would be proud of both of us.